Kot Bilkhar
An Akbar-era record names a brick fort. Later descriptions record the terrain and ditch. The construction date and measured boundary remain open.
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Sources and research notes
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Saved evidence
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FOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Evidence found so far
Ghaibar Sah to Umri
The 1929 printed pedigree and a 1974 judgment extend the named Umri line into the twentieth century. Links to present-day families remain unverified.
Read the evidenceDikhit Darpan Vansh
The 2022 report names the author and records participation from 36 gram sabhas. The book and the named event roster were not located.
Read the evidenceThe 1916 Chauhan genealogy
The 1916 register confirms the title, author and first-edition date. The page about the shrine remains unverified.
Read the evidenceArchives and catalogues checked
Public records and catalogue search · 11 November 2026
Fort and village records
Checked the IGNCA scans of the Oudh gazetteer and archaeological survey, the 1981 and 2011 Census handbooks, and the Pratapgarh district history. The records describe the ruins and identify Yahiyapur. A dated foundation record and measured fort perimeter remain unverified.
Umri and the historical estates
Compared the 1904 district gazetteer, the 1929 government title manual, the 1930 estate register and the 1974 judgment. The sources differ on some early links. The British Library and Center for Research Libraries list further editions and settlement records. A continuous line to today’s families remains unverified.
Dikhit Darpan Vansh and the 2022 launch
Title and author searches in UP e-Granthalaya and India’s ISBN register yielded no match. The district notice archives and the available 9 November 2022 Amar Ujala pages yielded no roster. The Amethi local supplement was unavailable online. Hindustan reports 36 gram sabhas without naming them. The book and roster remain unverified.
The 1916 Chauhan genealogy
The British Library’s June 1916 register, p. 37, entry 215, confirms the first edition of Gopal Kabi’s Batsa Gotra Chauhan Vamsarnava. A 1979 bibliography gives a different title and year under the same publisher. Searches using both titles in UP e-Granthalaya, Open Library and Internet Archive yielded no copy. The shrine page remains unverified.
Historical or official record
Abu’l-Fazl · late 16th century · H. S. Jarrett translation, 1891 · Vol. II, p. 164
Ain-i-Akbari · Manikpur revenue table
The entry for the mahal of Jalalpur Balkhar records a brick fort. Its area figure describes the revenue unit. It gives no builder, foundation date or surveyed fort dimensions.
Vol. II, p. 471 · comparative table in Vol. III
Oudh gazetteer · the Jalalpur Bilkhar entry
Reproduces the Manikpur table from a Shah Alam-era copy of the Ain-i-Akbari. The gazetteer connects the old revenue unit with Patti. See the page scan for the table layout.
1878 · Vol. III, pp. 158–159 · PDF pp. 165–166
Oudh gazetteer · Kot Bilkhar
Records the qanungo’s construction tradition and describes the Sai, ravines, plateau and traceable ditch. It dates the demolition to 1180 Fasli (1773 CE in this passage).
1878 · Vol. III, pp. 585–586 · PDF pp. 592–593
Oudh gazetteer · Yahiapur
Names Gular Sah of Bisauli, Banda, in the settlement story and uses 1772 CE for the conflict dated 1180 Fasli. It mentions Bilkhar Mahadeo and the shrine fair.
A. Führer · 1891 survey, 1965 reprint · p. 318 · PDF p. 329
Monumental Antiquities and Inscriptions · Bilkhar
Describes the plateau, ravines, ditch and shrine on the Sai. Its interpretation of the mound as an earlier Buddhist stupa is not accompanied by a dated excavation.
Census of India 1981 · Part XIII-A · Places of Tourist Interest
Pratapgarh District Census Handbook · Yahiyapur
Records the Bilkhar Nath temple amid the ruins of Kot Bilkhar at Yahiyapur.
Census of India 2011 · Part XII-A · pp. 59, 484 (PDF pp. 79, 506)
Pratapgarh District Census Handbook · Yahiapur and Yahiyapur
The places-of-interest entry uses Yahiapur for the temple site at the fort ruins. The village directory lists Yahiyapur as village 159519 in Baba Belkharnath block (0449). These entries locate the modern village and shrine. They supply no fort survey.
Census of India 2011 · Part XII-A · PDF p. 503 · directory p. 492 (PDF p. 514)
Pratapgarh District Census Handbook · Baba Belkharnath block map
The map places village 519 (Yahiyapur) on the Sai beside village 520 (Bhat Purwa). The village directory records 321.5 hectares for the census village. The map shows village boundaries and supplies no fort footprint.
District administration · History
Pratapgarh district · Sai River and Kot Bilkhar
Identifies the ancient fort as a landmark where the Sai bends in the Patti area.
H. R. Nevill · 1904 · p. 109
Partabgarh gazetteer · the Bilkharia lineage
Names Bhairon Singh, his sons Bhurang and Naurang, and the descent from Bhurang through Ban Singh to Kharak Sen and Nazan Deo. Its placement of Bhairon differs from the 1929 pedigree.
H. R. Nevill · 1904 · pp. 110–111
Partabgarh gazetteer · Umri, Antu and Garwara
Records the Umri sanad and father–son succession, the Antu estate holders and a separate Garwara descent tradition.
H. R. Nevill · 1904 · p. 212 and pp. 220–221
Partabgarh gazetteer · Jalalpur-Bilkhar and Yahiapur
On p. 212 Nevill identifies the Bilkhar in Jalalpur-Bilkhar with the old fort in Yahiapur on the Sai. The Yahiapur entry locates the temple and fort ruins at the Sai and Paraya junction and gives 1773 for the demolition.
H. R. Nevill · 1904 · p. 144
Partabgarh gazetteer · early settlement
Places Ghaibar Sah’s arrival around the middle of the thirteenth century in its reconstruction of regional history. This is a retrospective estimate.
H. R. Nevill · 1904 · p. 102
Partabgarh gazetteer · Meherban Singh
Places the arrears that preceded the fort’s demolition around 1780. The Yahiapur entry of the same volume gives 1773 for the demolition.
United Provinces Government · 7th ed., 1929 · p. 264
Manual of Titles · Raja Kishanpal Singh of Umri
Dates Kishanpal Singh’s accession to 11 August 1910, names his son and heir Lal Sant Bahadur Singh and records the 1864 notification recognising the hereditary title.
United Provinces Government · 7th ed., 1929 · p. 265
Manual of Titles · printed Umri pedigree
Original printed page of the historical estate pedigree from Balbhaddar Dikhit through Raja Kishanpal Singh. Compare its claims about Ramdeo and Dalpat with the earlier gazetteers.
Government register · 1930 · p. 54 · entries 225 and 231
List of Taluqdars in Oudh · Partabgarh
Lists Babu Bankateshwar Rawan Bahadur Pal Singh for Antu and Amerpur, and Raja Kishan Pal Singh for Umri. Both entries use the Bilkharya designation.
1939 · Partabgarh district directory
Thacker’s Indian Directory · Partabgarh taluqdars
Lists Raja Kishun Pal Singh for Umri and Bankateshwar Rawan Bahadur Pal Singh for Antu, Kanpa and Amerpur. The entries identify estate holders and give no family relationships.
Allahabad High Court · 29 January 1974 · 1974 ALJ 552 · facts, para. 2
Kanhaiya Lal v. District Deputy Director of Consolidation, Pratapgarh
The judgment’s account of the disputed land identifies Raja Krishnapal Singh of Umri, his sons Sant Bahadur Singh and Lal Pratap Bahadur Singh, and Sant’s wife Rani Vishwa Kumari Devi. It records Sant’s death in 1947.
United Provinces Government · 7th ed., 1929 · p. 177
Manual of Titles · Parenda lineage
The Parenda entry calls Jaswant Singh the grandson of Balbhaddar and names Ghaibar among Jaswant’s four sons. It leaves the intervening generation unnamed.
Haji Abbas Ali · c. 1880 · entry and portrait no. 40
Illustrated Historical Album of the Rajas and Taaluqdars of Oudh
Names Raja Jagat Bahadur Singh as the Bilkharia Raja and taluqdar of Amri (Umri), with nine villages in Partabgarh.
Abbas Ali · c. 1880 · 14109.bb.24(40)
British Library · Raja Jagat Bahadur portrait
Catalogue record for the portrait labelled Raja Jagat Bahadur, taluqdar of Amri.
H. H. Wilson · 1855 · p. 87
Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms · Bilkharia
An early printed entry connects the Bilkharia name to Bilkhar in Oudh and gives a Bachgoti Chauhan classification.
H. M. Elliot, edited by John Beames · 1869 · Vol. I, p. 38
Memoirs · Supplemental Glossary · Bilkhariya
Connects the name to Bilkhar and describes Bilkhariya in Dhuriapar, Gorakhpur, as Bachgoti Chauhan. It is a different classification from the Dikhit branch described in the Pratapgarh settlement accounts.
M. A. Sherring · 1872 · Vol. I, p. 167
Hindu Tribes and Castes as Represented in Benares · Bilkhariya
Compares Wilson and Elliot with Carnegy’s account of a Pratapgarh Dikhit branch named after a captured fort called Belkar-kot.
William Crooke · 1896 · Vol. II, pp. 306–307
Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh · Dikhit
Names Jaswant as Balbhadra’s grandson and Khairaj as Jaswant’s fourth son. It credits Khairaj with taking Bilkhar and cites C. A. Elliott.
1878 · Vol. III, p. 152
Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh
The Patti–Dalippur settlement account names Ghaibar Sah, Jaswant, Balbhaddar Dikhit, Kot Bilkhar and Ayyapur. It leaves the origin of the name Bilkharia open.
Vol. III, p. 153
Oudh gazetteer · Patti succession
Records two versions of how Bariar Singh Bachgoti succeeded Raja Ramdeo in Patti, with a violent takeover in one account and succession through marriage in the other.
Vol. III, p. 156
Oudh gazetteer · Patti, Umri and Antu
Names the Bilkharia estates of Umri and Antu and reports eight villages held around the former Aurangabad estate in northern Patti. A footnote records a Dirgbansi descent tradition.
Roper Lethbridge · 1893 · p. 199
The Golden Book of India
The Jagat Bahadur of Umri entry gives his birth and accession dates and describes a claimed line from Ghaibar Sah. Its account of Fort Bilkhar differs from the gazetteer on who built or occupied it.
Government of Uttar Pradesh
Pratapgarh district · official block list
Confirms the modern Baba Belkhar Nath Dham block name. The administrative block and the historic fort site are different units of reference.
Government of Uttar Pradesh
Amethi district · village and panchayat list
Lists 37 gram panchayats in the modern Sangrampur block. This is an administrative total for the block.
Census of India 2011 · Part XII-A · pp. 216–225
Sultanpur District Census Handbook · Sangrampur
Gives the Sangrampur block map and revenue-village directory. Its coverage follows census administration.
Quarter ending June 1916 · printed p. 37, no. 215 · British Library SV 412/38, vol. 10 · PDF p. 118
United Provinces book register · Batsa Gotra Chauhan Vamsarnava
Entry 215 records Gopal Kabi’s metrical genealogy, first edition, issued 13 March 1916. Raja Pratap Bahadur Singh of Kurwar, Sultanpur, published it. Ram Ratan Bajpai printed 1,000 copies at Lucknow Steam Printing Press, with 761 numbered pages, preliminary matter and a frontispiece. The register says it was not intended for sale. This scan documents the publication. The shrine passage in the book remains unverified.
Census of India · 2011 · Part XII-B
Pratapgarh District Census Handbook
Village- and town-level population tables. A village’s total population cannot be read as the population of any particular clan.
J. Charles Williams · 1869
The Report on the Census of Oudh
Historical census and clan tables. Its territorial divisions and categories belong to the nineteenth-century administration.
Genealogy compilation
छोटेलाल शर्मा · 1928 catalogue date · pp. 637–638 (scan pp. 351–352)
क्षत्रिय वंश प्रदीप
Historical Hindi compilation. Its Dikshit section connects Samoni, Jaswant and Bilkhar. Read alongside the Oudh gazetteer, particularly where names and dates diverge.
ठाकुर उदय नारायण सिंह · 2020 edition · p. 25 (scan p. 27)
क्षत्रियवंशावली
A scanned Hindi genealogy reference with a clan index, lineages and charts. Use it as a record of the compiler’s classifications and traditions.
Supplied Wikipedia PDF capture
बेलखरनाथ मन्दिर
A tertiary summary of the temple and local stories. Use the historical record and local reporting cited separately for individual claims.
Family record
Family collection · 2025–2026 · pp. 2–8, 17
Belkhariya Rajpoot Itihas
The supplied PDFs and Word files repeat much of the same compilation. They preserve family customs, variant names, regional stories and links to other sources. Versions overlap and sometimes disagree.
Family collection · supplied Word document
कौशिक विश्वामित्र
A traditional account of Vishvamitra, Kushika and Gadhi, relevant to how this family understands the Kaushik gotra. It provides religious and literary context for the family designation.
Local reporting
Hindustan · 8 November 2022
बेलखरिया समाज की पुस्तक का हुआ विमोचन
Reports the launch of Jyoti Prakash Singh’s Belkhariya Dikhit Darpan Vansh by Rahul Singh Dikhit and gives a count of 36 gram sabhas. The report gives no names of participating villages. A copy of the book and an event roster remain unverified.
Amar Ujala · 2 March 2024
बेलखरनाथ धाम और महाशिवरात्रि
Describes the Sai River shrine and Mahashivaratri observance. It attributes the 1916 genealogy reference to chief priest Badrinath Giri.
Supplied article, two PDF captures
Baba Belkharnath Mandir · News Track
Local reporting on worship and traditions about the shrine, including the rediscovery story. The two supplied captures overlap and are treated as a single account.
ETV Bharat · 18 August 2021 · supplied article PDF
बाबा बेलखरनाथ धाम में आने वाले श्रद्धालु
A local report on worship and pilgrimage in Sawan. Its devotional accounts reflect the beliefs of visitors and the temple community.
Hindustan · 22 August 2026
बेलखरनाथ धाम में उमड़ी भीड़, श्रद्धालुओं ने किया जलाभिषेक
Reports worship, jalabhishek and a fair at the dham on the last Saturday of Sawan in 2026.
Amar Ujala · 13 July 2025
राजा बेल के नाम से प्रसिद्ध हुआ बाबा बेलखरनाथ धाम
Repeats the priest’s attribution to Gopal Kavi and a 1916 Chauhan genealogy. No publisher, folio or facsimile is supplied.
Historical research
B. D. Chattopadhyaya · Indian Historical Review, 1976
Origin of the Rajputs
Studies the political, social and economic processes behind early medieval Rajput formation using evidence from Rajasthan.
IGNOU eGyanKosh · Unit 12
Emergence of Rajputs
Introduces the solar, lunar and fire-origin traditions alongside regional evidence for the emergence of Rajput clans and states.
Archival leads
Allahabad, 1932 · corrected to 30 September 1931 · IOR/V/27/70/66
British Library · corrected Manual of Titles
Catalogue holding for a later state of the seventh edition. The catalogue gives no information about a later Umri accession.
Patrick Carnegy · 1868 · p. 39 cited by Sherring
Notes on the Races, Tribes and Castes Inhabiting the Province of Avadh
Sherring attributes the Belkar-kot account to this page. The accessible short scan ends before it, so this passage was checked through Sherring’s citation.
C. A. Elliott · 1862 · pp. 34 ff. cited by Crooke
The Chronicles of Oonao
The Rijksmuseum confirms the 1862 edition. The Oudh gazetteer and Crooke cite it in connection with Khairaj. The original passage was not inspected for this entry.
1877, 1896 and 1930 · India Office shelfmarks IOR/V/27/314/747–749
Pratapgarh revenue settlement reports
The Center for Research Libraries lists the settlement reports on microform. These holdings are leads for checking estate boundaries and later succession.
Tohoku University Science Reports · Geography 29(1), 1979 · printed pp. 2, 9
S. B. Singh · alternate Chauhan genealogy citation
The bibliography cites Gopal, K., Vatsgotra: Chauhan Bans Varnan (1901), with Raja Pratap Bahadur Singh of Kurwar Estate as publisher. The article uses the citation for the account of Bariar Singh. The relationship between this citation and the registered 1916 title remains open.
1904–1918 microform holdings · SAMP · OCLC 11894506
United Provinces printed-book registration statements
The holdings list covers 1916 and can guide a search of registered titles. It does not itself list the claimed genealogy.